Showing Some Love to Your Alcohol or Candy Brand’s Valentine’s Day Marketing Strategy

Between the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day, February is a big month for Alcohol and Candy brands. According to Statista, Americans are projected to spend 25.9 Billion dollars on Valentine’s Day this year. Results from last year’s Valentine’s Day from the NRF revealed that 41 percent of their survey respondents would like to receive the gift of an experience, and that 35 percent of people chose online retailers as their preferred shopping destination for the occasion. 

While the perfect Valentine’s Day gift or experience may vary from person to person, Alcohol and Candy have always been among the most popular items gifted during the special holiday. With Valentine’s Day 2024 coming up, what does your brand need to know to focus its marketing to shoppers when they’re most likely to buy? Let’s take a look at what the MikMak Shopping Index revealed.

Alcohol saw exceedingly high Purchase Intent Rates last Valentine’s Day and around the beginning of the year

As shown in our recent “New Year, New Me” guide, the MikMak Shopping Index revealed that Purchase Intent Rates (the rate at which a shopper clicks through to a retailer from media) were high around 2023’s Valentine’s Day, reaching 11.3 percent on Valentine’s Day itself (1.7x the current average). In Europe, we saw a similar peak the Saturday before the holiday. This shows that shoppers are certainly buying Alcohol on and around Valentine’s Day, and that it’s a good idea for brands to market all the way until Valentine’s Day itself, as shoppers may be making last-minute purchases the day of.

Meta leads Social Commerce for Alcohol brands

Right now, when it comes to what social channels consumers are responding to Alcohol-related media, Meta channels lead the way. Instagram drives a Purchase Intent Rate of 10.5 percent, and Facebook follows at 9.0 percent. After Meta, YouTube has a Purchase Intent Rate of 1.9 percent, and X and Pinterest are at 1.4 and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Drizly is the top retailer for Alcohol right now

When looking at the last month, specifically, Drizly has the greatest share of Purchase Intent Clicks for Alcohol brands, with 38.3 of Purchase Intent Clicks, or the number of times a shopper has clicked through to at least one retailer during a single session. Meanwhile, Total Wine follows with 23 percent. Instacart, Walmart, and ReserveBar round out the top five Alcohol retailers with 17.8, 15.9, and 5.0 percent of Purchase Intent Clicks, respectively.

Purchase Intent Rates for Candy Brands were consistent leading up to Valentine’s Day

For Candy brands, Purchase Intent Peaks were a little less extreme than we saw for Alcohol brands, wavering between 2 and 3 percent. In the first three months of the year, we did see one major peak on New Year’s Day, with a Purchase Intent Rate of 5.42 percent. 

Brands should be looking closely at their consumer’s behavior around this time last year, and leading up to this year’s Valentine’s Day to market to them most effectively, and to capture audiences when they’re ready to buy sweet treats for V-Day. 

Facebook is the leading social channel for Candy brands; YouTube follows 

When looking at the last month, Facebook led the way for Candy brands, compared to other social channels, with a Purchase Intent Rate of 3.6 percent. Meanwhile, YouTube closely followed at 3.1 percent. Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok drove Purchase Intent Rates of 2.0, 1.6, and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Walmart is the top retailer for Candy brands right now

Now that we know Candy shoppers are clicking on media displayed on Facebook, where are they checking out? The MikMak Shopping Index showed that Walmart has driven 37.7 percent of Purchase Intent Clicks in the last month. Target is in second at 25.5 percent. Instacart follows at 16.7 percent. Amazon and Kroger round out the top five candy retailers with 16 and 4.2 percent, respectively.

Flirt with these Valentine’s Day marketing best practices this year

Understanding your consumers is key when it comes to marketing. Take a look at the first-party data is the first step when it comes to developing your campaigns. Are your Alcohol or Candy shoppers in the majority discovering your products on Facebook? Be sure to tailor your spend to reflect that and reach them when they’re ready to buy. Are your shoppers checking out at Quick Commerce retailers like Drizly or Instacart? Ensure you’re in stock and enable last-mile delivery options so they can get your products when needed. 

Above all, make sure shoppers can find and buy your products faster, online and in-store. Here are some tips for your media effectiveness:

• Show the product within 3 seconds, the sooner, the better!
• Align content with major holidays and campaign themes
• Highlight unique beverages or flavors
• Call out new products
• Include a CTA to click through/swipe up to shop
• Measure, learn, and optimize at every touchpoint!
• Test lifestyle, carousel, GIF, and video content vs only product images to see which formats drive the most engagement on your different consumer touchpoints
• Utilize MikMak data signals on shopper engagement to determine winning creative for real-time campaign optimization and future campaign planning